We got him! We got him!

We did it! We can all exhale now. A deal has been reached that the whole world was waiting for. After weeks of ups and downs in the talks, false assumptions, crazy contract disputes, he's finally here. Please welcome....

Brad Wilkerson.

Yes, THE Brad Wilkerson...

What the hell?

Let's see what our $3 Million for one year just bought us.

1. For his career, 1 Strikeout per every 3.3 AB.
2. A career .250 hitter with rare glimpses of power
3. Mediocre glove at first base

(wait, am I describing a shorter, left handed Richie Sexson?)

OK, I am being a bit rough on him. The reason we brought him in is because he can play RF pretty well. This is good news because it just about proves the Jones-Bedard deal is about to be signed, sealed, delivered.

And Brad has had some nagging injuries the last few years with the Rangers, and he claims he is as healthy as ever. So we will see. I just don't understand how he's worth $3 mill with a ton of bonuses based on plate appearances.

But I do like to give guys a chance. He seems pretty excited about a new start and about being in Seattle. He's been playing on a craptacular Ranger team, so maybe he just needs a good lineup around him for a fresh burst.

Can't argue about getting a lefty (power?) bat to get in there somewhere in that awful sexson-johjima-lopez-betancourt right-handed slew at the end of the lineup that I hated so much last year.

So we will see. Upper management must have seen something they really like about him. But if I was in there, I would have gone hard after either Trot Nixon or Corey Patterson. I love the way both of them play. I know Patterson would be hard to get, but Nixon would have been just as justified in getting a one year deal to prove himself, just as Brad did.

And following up on last night's freak-out, I apologize for getting so emotional. The same site just made me feel a billion times better this morning.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/01/31/forget-the-adam-jones-has-a-bad-hip-rumor/

So things are looking good for this deal to go through. Now let's just hope that the 5 year deal Bedard has on the table from Baltimore isn't absolutely ridiculous and ruins this whole thing for us.

Sunnier days ahead in Seattle? Let's hope.


www.thomasdiamond.com

Degenerative Hip Condition?!?!?!

http://www.childrenshospital.org
/az/Site556/Images/Hip.jpg

<-- Adam Jones' hip. Can you find what is wrong with it? Trick question! Nothing is wrong yet, but you just wait. Those Baltimore radio stations are sure that it is going to start degenerating like crazy any day now.

It figures. The second I get excited about this deal, my good friend Jason hits me with some knowledge.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/01/30/did-adam-jones-fail-his-physical/

I knew something had to be wrong. Like I said earlier, this should have been a done deal days ago unless something was truly wrong. But I am staying optimistic. This may or may not be true. Like the article says, this was released by some Baltimore radio station. So who knows, maybe it's just some guys trying to shake up the airwaves because their organization doesn't have any good news worth reporting.

OK I lied, I'm not that optimistic. On top of all that, apparently there's a new 5 year deal on the table from the O's for Bedard. Now I am at the point where if this trade does finally go down, it is going to be a huge sigh of relief. Honestly, this trade favors us immensely now. If this condition is real, there's no way that Mr. Angelos would be dumb enough to allow it to go through. Is there? Is there?

Well actually according to the Orioles fans I have been listening to and reading, we might be OK.

Off-season Moves

Let's start with the story that has been dominating our off-season for the past couple of weeks. The Erik Bedard sweepstakes. I have been absolutely torn over this deal. For those of you who haven't heard, the deal revolves around Baltimore sending us their strikeout king and clearcut ace, and in return we would give up Adam Jones - "the future" as many believe, George Sherill, and a few other young guys. I am going to lay out my pros and cons, not only for you, but also for myself so I can see everything laid out.

Bedard's Pros
-Left Handed
-Strikeout Phenom (10.9 K's per 9 last season)
-Would make great 1-2 punch with Felix - Righty/Lefty (how much fun would it be seeing these guys pitch on back to back nights all season long?)
-Proven to a degree, great numbers (Top 5 in Win Pct, ERA, K's, and Whip) in tough AL East while on a miserable team

Bedard's Cons
-Poor mechanics could lead to injury
-Turns 29 in March (maybe not necessarily a con)

Adam Jones Pros
-Fantastic potential, truly can be a 5 tool star in this league
-Great kid, kind of guy you want in the clubhouse (so I hear)

Adam Jones Cons
-Has yet to prove anything in the bigs (.246 2HR in 65AB)

I am huge on Jones. He will be a very good player in this league. But two things are swaying my decision in favor of completing the deal.

1. I still have nightmares about Jeff Weaver (remember vs KC? 0.1IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 1BB, Current ERA 18.26, yeah that was fun) and Horacio Ramirez at the end of the rotation. Now with Bedard and Silva, I'm actually excited about how our rotation could look top to bottom.
2. The experience factor. I just don't know how Jones is going to turn out. Hitting was not a problem of ours last year (scoring runs perhaps was). The bullpen was fantastic for the most part. Fielding was phenomenal. The only key truly missing was our rotation. And Bedard gives us a proven #2 guy who has shown flashes of flat out dominance.

So I am officially for this deal, although we will all definitely be sad to see Jones go.

Now it looks like it's up to Peter Angelos now, and to be honest, I don't like how these negotiations are panning out. It looked like a done deal on Monday, now he's apparently angry about how word leaked out so quickly. I don't know. It just seems like if there weren't any big problems, this would have already been finished. Even Jones and Sherill were talking about getting their physicals out of the way.


Anyway, we will keep an eye on this and I will continue to hope for the trade to go through. And if I ever start to doubt that position, I just have to remember how much pain and anguish Jeff Weaver brought into my life. God, how often did we see that pose last year.

Introduction

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by. Honestly I have no idea how you found this, but since you're here, you can proudly count yourself among the few people (2, maybe) who get to read about my thoughts on our beloved Seattle Mariners!

A little background information. I was born and raised in eastern Pennsylvania, and am now going to school at the University of South Carolina. Not that any of you particularly care, but I want you to keep this in mind and consider just how far away I am from the Emerald City. So how did I grow up loving the Mariners?

Well I lived about an hour or so out of Philadelphia, so the Phillies were the only team I ever got to see when I was young. Guess what, any ideas that you have of the early 90's Phillies are probably dead on.

Veteran's Stadium was an absolute hell-hole.
Philadelphia fans are just as angry/vulgar as they are portrayed.
Lenny Dykstra spewing brown goo out of those chipmunk cheeks, John Kruk eating babies, and Mitch Williams' homicidal tendencies were features even scarier when seen in person.

So I needed a favorite team. Then came the year I got to play organized baseball for the first time. And my first coaches pitch team? Yup, the Forks Township Mariners. But what really did it was the hat, with that great teel brim and the coolest looking compass I had ever seen.

They had me play shortstop, so after practice I remember running home to look at my baseball cards and find out who the shortstop was for the Mariners in the bigs. Omar Vizquel. OK, batting average says he can't hit. At all. But fielding percentage? Jackpot! And that's really how I fell in love with the middle infield positions.

But my true passion for the team emerged a couple years later, when my dad surprised me with tickets to see the Mariners play at Yankee Stadium. We got there a couple hours before first pitch so I could go down and watch batting practice. Mr. Vizquel had moved on (and apparently had a decent career), so I was kind of bummed that we did not have a good shortstop. I looked out and saw the infielders around second base, and what do I see but a big number 3. My number!! Playing shortstop!! And the name on that jersey? Rodriguez. Nobody knew who he was, but as he came running in, I yelled out to Mr. Rodriguez. Now remember, I'm 9 years old. He points me out, waves, runs over, signs my ball before anyone else's, and asked me my name. I can't remember if I said anything. I couldn't move. A major league baseball player not only acknowledged me, but he pointed me out and talked to me.

My guess is that's the feeling you get when you meet Jesus and he hugs you.

Anyway, few more years and a couple hundred Alex Rodriguez cards later, I was absolutely hooked. I read the box score every morning, and even kept a game by game account for 3 years on a newspaper center spread of every team's schedule. This included that amazing 2001 season where we basically never lost. Ever. The most interesting part of that season though was the end of the year. I love looking at that season's schedule (still hanging on my wall) not only because of how many games were highlighted in green (wins), but because I towards the bottom, there are 3 days crossed out and rescheduled - the Sept. 11th attacks. This was the time when the AL wins mark was within reach, and I remember the rest of that season getting me through those horrible weeks that followed.

So for the last 15 years I have loved this team. I could go on reminiscing, but I started this blog so I could convey my thoughts and feelings on the team and the season ahead. Up until last year, I never got to see our team play on TV. First of all, late games don't start until 10:05 over here. Second, the media over here rarely goes into any depth whatsoever about the M's and knows that M's fans in my area are few and far between.

And then a beautiful thing was invented - MLB.tv.

EVERY GAME. ALLLLL SEASON LONG.

I have never been happier.

So from now until the end of the season, I will be sharing my thoughts on every move and every game. I will let you know how I feel about anything and everything about Mariner baseball. Keep in mind that these will be the thoughts from the East Coast, without any extensive coverage on our team. The only extra coverage I will get on our boys will be the 10 second clips that ESPN shows at the end of the episode each morning. So armed with just my MLB.tv account, I will try my best to be the voice for all 5 of us Mariners fans on the East Coast.

GO M's!!!!!!!